Rangers create European history as star man equals Gattuso’s 26-year record

Rangers have created club history in Europe by beating a Swedish club for the first time.

The Scottish giants fought to a 2-0 victory away at Malmo at the Eleda Stadium in their Europa League opener on Thursday.

In the Ibrox outfit’s previous six clashes against a team from Sweden, they had failed to claim a win – losing on four occasions and drawing twice.

It was the most matches they had faced from a specific nation without emerging victorious.

Four of those games came against Malmo, who had picked up two wins and as many draws in European meetings between them.

But the visitors got off to a dream start after taking the lead through versatile attacker Nedim Bajrami.

The 25-year-old broke the deadlock after just 55 seconds, where he tapped home into an empty net after Cyriel Dessers’ strike hit the post.

Dessers rounded Malmo goalkeeper Johan Dahlin, but couldn’t direct his effort on target, with Bajrami making no mistake with the rebound.

His goal makes it the first time a Rangers player has scored inside a minute during an European fixture since October 1998.

That was when AC Milan legend Gennaro Gattuso was on Rangers’ books during his brief spell in Scotland.

The Italian midfielder found the back of the net early on in the old UEFA Cup in a 4–2 win against Beitar Jerusalem.

Incredibly, both of Bajrami’s last two goals for club and country have come inside 60 seconds.

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The Albania international scored after just 23 seconds against Italy at Euro 2024 in the summer.

It was the quickest goal in European Championship history, though sadly for Bajrami, his goal failed to matter as Italy came back to win 2-1.

Though thankfully for Bajrami, his goal helped Rangers get off to the perfect start in Europe’s second-tier competition.

After pressure from the hosts, Rangers doubled their lead through Ross McCausland’s strike in the 76th minute, which came in off the post.

Malmo never looked like getting back in the game following Rangers’ second, with Henrik Rydstrom’s men failing to register a shot on target from their seven attempts on goal.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the 2-0 win, Rangers skipper James Tavernier said: “We had the chances, first half and second half. Delighted we’ve come here and got the clean sheet.

“We dug deep to limit their chances. We knew they’d be strong on set-pieces and we dealt with them very well. Three points, great start.

“We’re continuing to work hard in training and we’re getting stronger as a team.

“We’ve got a young squad and they are gelling really well. I thought it was a great display from us.

“Our fans always require us to win games no matter who it is. We always want to put a performance in and we did that.”